Who is BUGWU?
Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) is the organization of, by, and for graduate workers at BU, consisting of teachers, researchers, graders, and more. We are committed to
- Fighting to address the issues our coworkers care about, including but not limited to wages, benefits, safety, and workplace democracy;
- Open, democratic, collective deliberation and decision-making between coworkers;
- Breaking down the barriers used to divide workers, such as department, job title, race, gender, nationality, citizenship status, disability, and more;
- Building and exercising the collective power we have as workers without whom the university cannot function.
After many years of organizing, graduate workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize in December 2022. After nearly a year of contract negotiations characterized by lowball offers, delay tactics, and disrespect from BU administration, graduate workers initiated a strike on March 25, 2024 and went on to withhold their labor for an historic seven months to win our first collective bargaining agreement. The strike produced transformative changes in our working conditions, including twelve-month funding guarantees, salary increases, and more.
Shortly after the strike settlement, the university initiated a campaign of austerity and restructuring, claiming to respond to fiscal constraints but simultaneously attempting to reassert the control over the workplace to which graduate workers had collectively laid claim. BUGWU is now fighting to prevent these cuts, preserve dignity in our work, and to force the university to truly address its cost of living crisis.